Titans of the twentieth century How they made history and the history they made

Michael Mandelbaum

Book - 2024

"The Titans of the Twentieth Century addresses an age-old question: what is the impact of individuals on history? The first half of the twentieth century offered political leaders enormous scope for changing the world. This book consists of essays about eight who, for better and for worse, did just that. Woodrow Wilson had a vision for a cooperative world order that failed after the First World War but gained in influence after the Second. Vladimir Ilich Lenin founded the totalitarian communist political system that controlled a large part of the planet for much of the twentieth century. Adolf Hitler started history's worst war and presided over history's worst atrocity, the Holocaust. Winston Churchill provided inspiring lea...dership to Great Britain, which made it possible to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II"--

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2nd Floor New Shelf 920.00904/Mandelbaum (NEW SHELF) Due May 12, 2025
Subjects
Published
New York, NY : Oxford University Press [2024]
Language
English
Main Author
Michael Mandelbaum (author)
Physical Description
338 pages ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9780197782477
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • 1. Thomas Woodrow Wilson
  • 2. Vladimir Ilich Lenin (Ulianov)
  • 3. Adolf Hitler
  • 4. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
  • 5. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  • 6. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
  • 7. David Ben-Gurion (Gruen)
  • 8. Mao Zedong
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Choice Review

Mandelbaum (emer., Johns Hopkins Univ.) has written brilliant profiles of eight men who, for better or worse, shaped 20th-century political history. Woodrow Wilson issued The 14 Points and called for a League of Nations, which, although rejected by the Senate, nevertheless influenced the course of American foreign policy after World War II. Vladimir Lenin did more than other Marxist theorists to create what he intended to be the first workers' state. Adolf Hitler was responsible for starting World War II, which resulted in the deaths of millions and history's worst genocide. Winston Churchill's leadership of Great Britain helped thwart Hitler's ambitions and made possible the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany. Franklin D. Roosevelt steered the US through the Great Depression and, through his leadership, led the Allies to victory during the Second World War. Mandelbaum also includes chapters on Mohandas Gandhi, whose philosophy of nonviolence ended British rule in India and influenced the American Civil Rights Movement; David Ben-Gurion, whose leadership of the Zionist movement resulted in the creation of Israel; and Mao Zedong, who imposed totalitarian rule in China and, in the process, became history's most horrific mass murderer. Mandelbaum's book should be required for courses on 20th-century history. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. --Jack Robert Fischel, emeritus, Millersville University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Profiles of eight "supremely significant" male world leaders, from virtuous to genocidal. Mandelbaum, author ofThe Rise and Fall of Peace on Earth,The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy, and other books of global history, writes that these men changed the world during the 20th century--largely the first half, a disastrous period featuring history's two most destructive wars and its worst economic depression. Since this is political history, beginning with Woodrow Wilson is reasonable. His idealistic vision of a world in which democracy and self-determination replace power politics failed after World War I, but it caught on after 1945--peaking during the Cold War but steadily receding since. The remaining seven choices are unsurprising. Readers may grumble at Stalin's absence, but Mandelbaum makes a convincing case that Lenin deserves priority for leading an obscure splinter party to power in the collapsing Russian empire and creating the institutions and vicious mindset that Stalin inherited. Most readers will agree with the inclusion of Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Mao Zedong. Gandhi did more than any individual to make India a nation and launched the worldwide collapse of colonialism following World War II. David Ben-Gurion was the central figure in the creation of Israel, which still plays an outsize role in world affairs. History buffs will encounter little new information but enjoy the insights of a fine historian. Older readers will experience the uneasy sensation that there is less than meets the eye in the great victory of WWII. Mandelbaum casts a gimlet eye on all his subjects. The five democratic leaders come off better than Lenin, Hitler, and Mao, but he does not deny the increasing appeal of hyperpatriotic autocrats who are now taking power around the world--legally, the author reminds us, just as Hitler did. Often perceptive but never groundbreaking. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.